Let’s take a step back, Speaker. We inherited a child care program that costs, on average, $50 to $60 a day. It was our government, under our Premier’s leadership, that cut that by 50%, saving $6,000 to $12,000 per child per year. We then committed to build spaces: 86,000 spaces for which the government is on track, 41,000 spaces created since 2018.

The member opposite speaks about supporting our staff. It was this government that just increased wages this year by 19% in the first year, achieving wage parity with the ECEs in kindergarten, because that was a fundamental priority: to reduce the exodus of staff going from child care into our school system. We now have wage parity. We’re increasing wages by $1 per hour per year, every year; this is going to make a difference as we retain more workers.

As we build more spaces, we continue to reduce fees for the people of Ontario.

Speaker, I have a petition: “A Future for Childcare in Ontario.” As you would know, currently, there are as many as 65,000 new child care workers needed to meet the expected child care demand.

I had a child care day in my riding, and so many people told me that they are unable to access important child care so that they can go to work. The biggest problem is that child care workers—they’re having a difficult time retaining child care workers.

So, to address the workforce shortage, including increased salary, this is an important provision to make sure that we are able to provide the child care that we need in this province.

This petition calls for the immediate establishment of an early years and child care working advisory commission, as part of our ongoing efforts to make sure that parents and children are able to access adequate child care in this province.

I have many, many people in my riding and across Ontario signing this petition. I wholeheartedly agree with this. I’m going to affix my name to it and give it to page Ethan to give to the table.